Communication Barriers in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies The parents of Nilanjana Sudheshna Lahiri, a Bengali couple who immigrated to the United Kingdom from India, welcomed their daughter into the world on July 11, 1967, in London. While Lahiri was attending university her nickname, ‘Jhumpa’, became commonly used by her professors, and she decided to keep this name for future publications. Jhumpa Lahiri first attended Barnard College in New York, where she particularly focussed on English
The choices one makes dictates the life they lead. In her novel The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri reflects on the world of the Ganguli family. One particular character, Gogol Ganguli becomes the main focus as Lahiri takes us through his assimilation process, and how he tries to achieve the goal of being socially accepted. Lahiri illustrates the development of Gogol’s quest for his true cultural identity through his personal struggles: his name, his romantic relationships, and his father’s untimely death
Jhumpa Lahiri Jhumpa Lahiri was born in England in 1967, when she was three years old they moved to Rhode Island. There is an Indian tradition where the parents give their child a pet name, so that's when they named her Jhumpa. She had a difficult time growing up because her Indian parents lived in England most of their lives and then when Jhumpa turned three they moved to America. She started writing at a young age, like fiction short stories mostly in grade school. Part of the reason she started
“I’m Nikhil” (Jhumpa Lahiri 96) these are the words that Gogol uttered for the first time in his life. The theme of name and identity in Lahiri’s novel the Namesake is obvious. Which is used throughout the novel. In the first chapter Ashima recalls that she never “calls out for her husband”. An important theme of name and identity is introduced in the first chapter when Ashima calls her husband but not by name. Bengali tradition is one of many that relates to the importance of a mans name
In life, people face certain obstacles that come their way. Some run away in fear, and others face them head on, The people that face these obstacles are the ones that get more out of life and therefore are ready for what other obstacles might come their way . The Namesake, is a book about how life can be difficult in a new country for immigrants trying to raise a son with mixed cultures. Gogol, the son of these immigrant parents grows up wanting to assimilate himself in this new cultural but ultimately
choice but to change their entire lifestyle around is never a desired experience. This normally occurs as the aftermath of immigrating into a new country that one may not have too many familiarities with. In the award winning novel, The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri has successfully captured and portrayed the reality of the struggles and difficulties one would face through immigration. This was done so through the use of emotions and challenges that the character, Ashima Ganguli had to overcome. In literal
person where you communicate with your first native language; you interact with family regularly with manners, traditions and culture. It 's really difficult to have two identities and do not know who you really are, in the book "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri author, demonstrates the theme of how hard it is to find an identity in America. The protagonist of the book Gogol, during his childhood went through many difficult stages related to his identity and find himself like another characters that passed
thing to discover, and it is forever changing and growing. The search for one’s identity is not a painless journey, but it is often worth it in the end. As is the case for Gogol Ganguli, one of the main protagonists in the novel The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri. Throughout the novel, Gogol is in search for his identity and for meaning behind his name. Names were a large struggle for Gogol, who spent about half of the novel under the name Nikhil. He even ended up developing a bit of a split personality
Similarities Between Jhumpa Lahiri’s parents and Ashima and Ashoke in the Namesake In the novel The red and the black, Stendahl the French author states, “A novel is a mirror that walks along a path ”. He believes that a novel doesn’t just come from imagination, but authors generally write based on their own life experience. In the novel the Namesake, the author Jhumpa Lahiri uses the characters of Ashima and Ashoke to present the life of a couple of immigrants from India, living in the United States
“Sexy” is a short story written by Jhumpa Lahiri with the intentions to show the reader how the decisions of one-person can influence others. It starts off with Miranda and Laxmi in their workplace talking about Laxmi’s cousins husband having an affair. Miranda ends up hiding the fact that she is also involved with a married man. Dev, whom she is having an affair with calls her sexy and she is seduced by this. Laxmi’s cousin and son come to town and Miranda ends up watching the young boy. The young
The short story, “Interpreter of Maladies,” written by Jhumpa Lahiri, is about an Indian tour guide who has an epiphany once he realizes that one of his clients finds his side job, an interpreter for the doctor, romantic. Mrs. Das, the one who appears to show interest in the tour guide’s occupation, struggles throughout her married life to remain loyal and loving to her husband. This characteristic of Mrs. Das’ is highlighted through the author’s use of tone, which is defined as the way the author
written in 1999 by Jhumpa Lahiri. She writes about an Indian couple who live in America and take a vacation to India. While on vacation Mrs. Das realizes that she does love her husband and her family after speaking to the cab driver. She realizes this when she sees her son get attacked by a group of monkeys at the end of the story. The tone of this story is complex and negative and the setting of the story is taking place in India while the Das family are on vacation. “Lahiri crisscrosses the continents
It seems as if culture influences the way humans learn and live. These practices are important to one’s being because it is the shaper of our own personality, as well as how we behave and think. In the novel The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, Lahiri efficiently describes the difficulties that immigrants have relating their culture, with the distinct American culture
Mr and Mrs. Das are both very important in the story of the “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri, because they represent the negative aspects of American culture. First Mrs. Das is very self-centred and only cares about herself. For instance she does not share her food, she also does is irritated by her children and openly shows them how much she doesn’t love them. “Leave me alone," Mrs. Das said, blowing on her nail and turning her body slightly. "You’re making me mess up." pg 788. While Mr
Karan Gandhi Ms. Chuntz English 11 Honors 4 December 2017 The NameSake Expository Essay In the Namesake written by Jhumpa Lahiri, America is often referred to as the land of opportunity despite how foreign immigrants are still being treated as second class citizens such as an outcast. Throughout the novel The Namesake the parents of Gogol, Ashoke Ganguli and Ashima Ganguli brought their family to America to find their opportunity despite their strong beliefs in their Bengali culture. Going against
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri Living in America, the Ganguli’s have the difficult choice of choosing between two dramatically different cultures. As a second generation Indian American, Gogol Ganguli is expected to preserve the
In “The Namesake”, Jhumpa Lahiri illustrates several factors contributing to an individual’s life such as the struggle faced by settling immigrant families and their growing second-generation children. Lahiri develops the fundamental idea that the absence of strong roots heavily affects an individual’s identity. This is clearly depicted through Gogol and the conflict he faces with his identity, the central theme and its deeper meaning and the symbolism and the irony used throughout the book. Firstly
DIASPORIC SENSIBILITY IN JHUMPA LAHIRI’S INTERPRETER OF MALADIES INTRODUCTION “It may be that writers in my position, exiles, or emigrants, are haunted by some sense of loss, some urge to reclaim, to look back, even at the risk of being mutilated into pillars of salt. But if we do look back, we must do in the knowledge – which give rise to profound uncertainties – that our physical alienation from India almost inevitably means that we will not be capable of reclaiming precisely the
I The Namesake introduces people who leave behind their families and the familiar heat of India to build a new life in America- a cold and a bleak land of strangers. Jhumpa Lahiri weaves a story spanning three decades of geographically and culturally displaced Bengali family, comprising the parents Ashoke and Ashima first generation immigrants who had migrated to the U.S.A. from Calcutta in search of greener pastures and their children Gogol and Sonia the second generation immigrants. Personal identity
The Namesake is a fictional novel written by Jhumpa Lahiri. Lahiri’s purpose of the book was to demonstrate a family's hardships moving to a new country, and then their children’s lives as Americanized Bengalis. The audience, in my opinion, was written particularly for an established Americanized American. These Americans are intended to realize little details that newcomers to America worry about, and the life differences that the average American wouldn’t think twice about. She wrote regarding